The tenth regeneration
by rebsheart
Summary: I tried to write down the thoughts of the Ninth Doctor in the moments right before his regeneration. I loved that scene so much, so here's my attempt at it :)


Here we are, back in the Tardis, we just landed.

Rose is still unconscious, lying on the ground, and I look at her.

_This girl has absorbed the Time Vortex, she has just saved the universe from the evil Daleks and she's even more beautiful than before_, I think with a smile.

I find myself thinking to our first kiss, the one that I gave Rose to free her from the energy that was consuming her, and I shiver.

A sound distracts me from my thoughts. Rose is getting up, confused.

"What happend?" she asked, looking around.

"Don't you remember?" I ask.

"It's like...there was a singing."

"That's right. I sang a song and the Daleks ran away." I answer with a smile.

If possible, Rose is even more confused.

"I was at home." she says. Then she seems to think again. "No, I wasn't at home. I was in the Tardis. There was this light...I can't remember anything else."

A strange glow catches my eye. It comes from my hand. Suddenly I understand what's going to happen and I look at her. I try to smile.

"Rose Tyler." I say, surrendering to the evidence. "I was going to take you to so many places. Barcelona, for example. Not the city Barcelona, the planet Barcelona. You'd love it, fantastic place. They've got dogs with no noses!"

I laugh, and Rose, still sitting on the ground, gives me a beautiful smile.

"Imagine how many times you could tell that joke and it's still funny!" I exclaim, still laughing.

She shakes her head, smiling. "Then why can we go?"

"Maybe you will, and maybe I will. But not like this." I say looking back at the screen in front of me. If you only knew, Rose...

"You're not making sense!" she says, standing up.

"I might never make sense again, I might have two heads, or no head!" I laugh. I laugh, because I want to hide the fear that grips me. I don't know how I'll regenerate, and this scares me. Not so much for my physical appearance, but because I don't know what might happen with Rose. And I definitely don't want to lose her.

"Imagine me with no head!" I continue joking as she looks at me with a smile, slightly embarrassed. "And don't say that's an improvement! It's a bit dodgy, this process."

Rose is confused. She doesn't have the faintest idea what I'm babbling about.

"You never know what you're gonna end up with." I say right before a stab of pain grips my stomach.

I hold my stomach with my hands and Rose comes up to me in a hurry.

"Doctor!" she screams, scared. Indeed, terrified. I can see it in her face.

"Stay away!" I shout back. I bow my mouth in a grimace of pain, but I look at my Rose.

"Tell me what's going on ..." she mutters, looking frightened.

"I have absorbed all the energy of the Time Vortex, and no one's meant to do that." I say, trying to smile proudly, but what comes out looks more like a crooked grin.

Rose continues staring at me, not knowing what to do.

"Every cell in my body is dying." I say.

"But...can't you do something?"

"Yes, I'm doing it now. Time Lords have this little trick...sort of a way of cheating death." I continue panting. The pain is indescribable. "Except...it means I'm gonna change."

Rose looks at me open-mouthed, unable to understand.

"And I'm not gonna see you again..." I no longer force myself to hide what I'm feeling. "Not like this, not with this old dumb face!"

I sketch a smile that doesn't come out very well, as she is paralyzed.

"And before I go ..."

"Do not say that!" Rose exclaimed, but I interrupt her. I know what I have to say. I want to do it, I want to confess my feelings, but I can't.

"Rose...before I go I just want to tell you that you were fantastic." I say. I close my eyes for two seconds and I fight against myself.

"Absolutely fantastic..." I hear my voice crack. "And you know what?"

I love you, I think, that's what.

She shakes her head puzzled, still staring open-mouthed.

"So was I."

I look at her smiling, and she smiles too. You're so beautiful Rose Tyler...

For a few seconds we look again, those words that push to get out of my lips, my body trembles for the now immininente regeneration.

A final exchange of glances and then I explode. Literally.

The light stops coming out of my body and I find myself staring at a stunned Rose looking at me in disbelief.

"Hello! Ok ..." I say, not knowing exactly how to react. I don't feel anything strange in my body.

"New teeth, that's weird!" I say, feeling new and strong teeth in my mouth. Maybe they I didn't change for the worse. "So, where was I? Oh, that's right! Barcelona!"

I look at my Rose and I grin. The Doctor's back.

_**This is the first story I write in this fandom. I find that this is one of the most exciting moments of season 1, the regeneration of the Doctor :) **_

_**I loved Christopher Eccleston really much, but I can't deny it: I love even more the wonderful David Tennat! This scene is from episode 13.**_

_**Hope you like this little fanfiction!**_


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